What’s Your River Story?

Every river has a story, and every great story has a river. We each have a unique river story – and we want to hear yours.

Your passion is your river – is it urban or rural? Big rapids or calm currents? Do you explore solo or with friends and family? Are you paddling across a watery expanse, or quietly contemplating its unique beauty from shore? Each of us has a story like this to share and there are many people across the land who want to hear them.

Last night the wild geese called all night, their November song urgent in my dreams. It’s time to leave this hawk-hunted prairie and the wind harping in these cottonwoods, leave this vastness of light and its lens of polished air, leave this silent sandstone and the sacred text of... Read More

We are losing our special places where nature reigns, the places where we can understand ourselves as part of nature. The Grand Canyon is a site where profound connections are made. The first time I saw the Grand Canyon, I knew I couldn’t leave until I walked down to... Read More

I first saw Grand Canyon from about 28,000 feet on a commercial flight headed back to Florida after 5 days in Vegas. I was born in Maine, raised in New Hampshire. I had the White Mountains of New Hampshire as a playground growing up. Skiing, snowmobiling, and mini- bikes... Read More

In 2012 your standard river crew, 3 dories and 2 rafts, headed down the Big Ditch. On Halloween we ran Hance to Horn. Below is my journal entry from that evening. ******* This morning, 9:15am amazing for our crew, we scouted Hance rapid, like boulders thrown into the current... Read More

Today the Washington State Parks Foundation published an article “Local Conservationist Hikes the Green River Gorge from Kanaskat-Palmer to Flaming Geyser State Park“. They did a great job of telling the story of how and why I committed to a rugged descent of one of the last wild places... Read More

On Sunday my husband and I finished up hiking my last section of river from highway 169 to Flaming Geyser and had walked and swam in that section of river. We didn’t see any salmon during our hike. On Wednesday, as I was standing on the shore of the... Read More

I lived in communities and the outdoors of the Colorado Plateau for 10 years, 1971-1980; Flagstaff, Sedona and the south rim of the Grand Canyon. After graduating from NAU in ’76, I went to work in food service at the south rim. Six days on, one day off. We... Read More

I first hiked the Canyon in 1983. It changed me forever. It is a desert environment not unlike many other places; but the Canyon is somehow very different from any.other.place.on.Earth. From the air and from the rim, its grandeur is jaw-dropping to be sure. But below the rim, everything... Read More

Though I never been to the Grand Canyon in person. I did spend much of my youth visiting the Colorado River with my family. Where I learned to water ski, knee board and even drive a jet ski. I loved to dig in the sand along the river to... Read More

The Yampa River is the last undammed major tributary of the Colorado River, and it runs through one of the most remote locales in Colorado: Dinosaur National Monument. Located in the far northwestern corner of our state, Dinosaur protects some of the most spectacular canyons on the continent—a geologic... Read More

An open sandy spot is here to welcome our tent. The river and breeze sing in harmony and the sound is sweet. So strange that this song of the river that was so new to me yesterday, becomes the lullaby I have to hear to make sweet dreams possible.... Read More

Today’s post is by guest blogger Bob Rothrock, Board Member with Friends of Verde River Greenway, advocate for the Verde River and organizes river experiences on the Verde River for friends and the public. My inflatable kayak was rigged and in the water except for the bow. I stepped into... Read More